Susan Emshwiller

Susan Emshwiller hosted the second OpenLens Festival in January 2006 and was the festival's first visiting filmmaker.

The festival began Friday, January 13th, when visiting Los Angeles writer and director Susan Emshwiller screened and discussed her new film, "In the Land of Milk and Money". This was the North West Premier of her dark-comedy which had been presented at 15 international festivals.

The following morning Emshwiller conducted a screenwriting workshop. She drew upon her career as a writer (Pollock), set-designer (The Good Girl), actress (The Player), and director (In the Land of Milk and Money), to explore the art and craft of writing for the screen.

Susan Emshwiller was raised in Levittown on Long Island, N.Y., by writer Carol Emshwiller and avant-guard experimental filmmaker Ed Emshwiller. She got her BFA from Syracuse University in painting and printmaking. Ms. Emshwiller began working in film after getting her masters degree from California Institute of the Arts where she studied under Alexander Mackendrick (Man in the White Suit, Sweet Smell of Success). She has worked as a set decorator for many years, working for David Mamet, Michael Apted, Graeme Clifford, and notably working with Robert Altman on The Player, (in which she is a featured actress) Short Cuts, Kansas City, and Cookie's Fortune. Her directorial debut, the short film Breakfast Messages, won numerous festival awards and was shown on the A&E television network. Ms. Emshwiller has written and directed several plays including critically acclaimed and award winning Brush Stokes at the MET theatre, based on the paintings of Edward Hopper. She has written a number of film scripts, including screenplays for Amy Madigan, Bill Pullman, and co-written the academy award winning film Pollock for actor/director Ed Harris.

Emshwiller's film, In the Land of Milk and Money, had its North West premier at the 2006 OpenLens Festival. This outrageous comedy turns suburban America on its head. Mad cow disease, corporate greed, mob mentality, the cult of Motherhood, propoganda, discrimination, and dangerous kitchen utensils all find a home in this wild social satire.

The performances have been called sharp and smart especially by the two leads including Christopher Coulson as the doctor and Kim Gillingham as his one time wife. Veteran character actor Tom Bower as Dr. Cochran's father who ditches his crazed wife for the tomboyish Amy Madigan.

Emshwiller has worked in the film industry as a set decorator for over seventeen years, often for director Robert Altman. As an actress, she was featured in Altman's "The Player." Her short film "Breakfast Messages" won numerous awards at film festivals, and was aired on A&E in addition to being screened at the American Film Institute Festival and the Museum of Modern Art.